Postmodern Philosophy as a Condition for the Emergence of Posthumanism Theory

The article presents a brief retrospective of the conceptions of philosophical postmodernism in their connection with posthumanism. Posthumanism is a philosophical movement that has been actively developed in the last decade, with its roots in the 60s and 70s of continental philosophy. The discourse of posthumanism implies work and development of conceptions and notions used by M. Foucault, J. Derrida, J. Deleuze and F. Guattari, R. Barthes and others. Connecting with such philosophical trends as disability studies, animal studies, postcolonial philosophy, actor-network theory, intersectional feminism, posthumanism expands, complements and reincarnates many provisions of postmodern philosophy. This article outlines the main concepts used in posthumanist discourse.

Download Full-text

A Dog’s Life: Thought, Symbols and Concepts

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474429566.003.0009 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jeffrey Bell

Keyword(s):

Recent Work ◽

Network Theory ◽

Philosophy Of Language ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Continental Philosophy ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Actor Network ◽

Analytic Work

Recent work in the philosophy of language has emphasized the importance of ‘stimulus-independent’ representational abilities in understanding both the nature of concepts and the extent to which concepts play a role in the thoughts of non-humans. This recent work dovetails in significant and interesting ways with Terrence Deacon’s work on symbols and with more recent work in continental philosophy on symbolism, language, actor-network theory, and analytic work in the philosophy of skill. It is in light of this work that this chapter revisit Whitehead’s book Symbolism: Its Meaning and Effect. In particular, it argues that the claim of many commentators, both early and late, that Whitehead is a panpsychist is a mistake, and relies upon an understanding of experience and subjectivity that Whitehead seeks to account for rather than presuppose. In his account of experience and subjectivity, it is rather a non-subjective, pre-individual process of individuation that allows for the possibility of an identifiable subjective experience, and hence for the claims of panpsychism. Whitehead’s understanding and account of these processes is able to account for an indeterminate variety of types and degrees of experience, and in a way that avoids both a reductive materialism and a reductive panpsychism.

Download Full-text

Eating Things

Nineteenth-Century Literature ◽

10.1525/ncl.2014.68.4.484 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 484-512 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michael Parrish Lee

Keyword(s):

Network Theory ◽

Animal Studies ◽

Food Studies ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Literary Analysis ◽

Thing Theory ◽

Actor Network ◽

Essay Tests ◽

Trade Share ◽

Looking Glass

This essay tests how Lewis Carroll’s Alice books might bridge four potentially disparate approaches to literary analysis: thing theory, animal studies, actor-network theory, and food studies. Expanding the investigation of objects and “things” in literature beyond a human/thing dichotomy, I draw on the actor-network theory (ANT) of Bruno Latour to explore the entanglement of humans, objects, animals, and appetites that generates so much of the wonder in Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871). I argue that these texts attempt to reconcile the Victorian destabilization of discrete “human” and “animal” categories facilitated by evolutionary theory with an increasingly commodified culture where everything and everyone seem potentially consumable. The Alice books give us “things” in networks, but networks that supersede, and have utility beyond, the human. Eating, I propose, is our way into these networks. I show how Carroll presents a world that is both fully social and thoroughly objectified, where humans, animals, and objects trade, share, and fight for positions in a network of edible things.

Download Full-text

STRUCTURING A SUCCESSFUL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROCESS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF ACTOR NETWORK THEORY

Journal of Information and Communication Technology ◽

10.32890/jict.9.2010.8097 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Huda Ibrahim ◽

Hasmiah Kasimin

Keyword(s):

Information Technology ◽

Technology Transfer ◽

Transfer Process ◽

Network Theory ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Local Market ◽

Private Company ◽

Actor Network ◽

Technology Transfer Process

An effi cient and effective information technology transfer from developed countries to Malaysia is an important issue as a prerequisite to support the ICT needs of the country to become not only a ICT user but also a ICT producer. One of the factors that infl uences successful information technology transfer is managing the process of how technology transfer occurs in one environment. It involves managing interaction between all parties concerned which requires an organized strategy and action toward accomplishing technology transfer objective in an integrated and effective mode. Using a conceptual framework based on the Actor Network Theory (ANT), this paper will analyse a successful information technology transfer process at a private company which is also a supplier of information technology (IT) products to the local market. This framework will explain how the company has come up with a successful technology transfer in a local environment. Our study shows that the company had given interest to its relationships with all the parties involved in the transfer process. The technology transfer programme and the strategy formulated take into account the characteristics of technology and all those involved.

Download Full-text

The Action of Christian Buildings on their Chinese Environment

Studies in World Christianity ◽

10.3366/swc.2017.0179 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 100-121

Author(s):

Michel Chambon

Keyword(s):

Network Theory ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Active Part ◽

Architectural Style ◽

Actor Network

This article explores the ways in which Christians are building churches in contemporary Nanping, China. At first glance, their architectural style appears simply neo-Gothic, but these buildings indeed enact a rich web of significances that acts upon local Christians and beyond. Building on Actor-Network Theory and exploring the multiple ties in which they are embedded, I argue that these buildings are agents acting in their own right, which take an active part in the process of making the presence of the Christian God tangible.

Download Full-text

Actor-Network Theory and Social Practice

Социологические исследования ◽

10.31857/s013216250009372-2 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 128-137

Author(s):

Irina Orlova ◽

Keyword(s):

Network Theory ◽

Social Practice ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Actor Network

Download Full-text

The model of an intelligent information security control system for supply chains based on the spatial concepts of the actor-network theory

Informatization and communication ◽

10.34219/2078-8320-2020-11-5-94-106 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 94-106

Author(s):

Y.M. Iskanderov ◽

◽

M.D. Pautov

Keyword(s):

Control System ◽

Information Security ◽

Supply Chains ◽

Network Theory ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Spatial Concepts ◽

Actor Network ◽

Information Security Management System ◽

Security Control ◽

Intelligent Information

Aim. The use of modern information technologies makes it possible to achieve a qualitatively new level of control in supply chains. In these conditions, ensuring information security is the most important task. The article shows the possibilities of applying the spatial concepts of the actor-network theory in the interests of forming a relevant intelligent information security management system for supply chains. Materials and methods. The article discusses a new approach based on the provisions of the actor-network theory, which makes it possible to form the structure of an intelligent information security control system for supply chains, consisting of three main functional blocks: technical, psychological and administrative. The incoming information security threats and the relevant system responses generated through the interaction of the system blocks were considered as enacting the three Law’s spaces: the space of regions, the space of networks and the space of fl uids. Results. It is shown that the stability of this system in the space of networks is a necessary condition for its successful functioning in the space of regions, and its resilience in the space of fl uids gained through the dynamic knowledge formation helps overcome the adverse effects of the fl uidity. The problems of the intentional / unintentional nature of information security threats, as well as the reactivity / proactivity of the corresponding responses of the intelligent information security management system for supply chains are investigated. Conclusions. The proposed approach showed the possibility of using such an interdisciplinary tool in the fi eld of information security as the concepts of the actor-network theory. The intelligent information security control system built on its basis ensures that almost all the features of solving information security problems in supply chains are taken into account.

Download Full-text